Retro Reviews: The Replacements: Hootenanny

    I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. This is a lesser-known album.

The Replacements – Hootenanny (1983)

**1/4

Producers: Paul Stark, Peter Jesperson, The Replacements

Musicians: Paul Wetserberg, Bob Stinson, Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars

Songs and music: Hootenanny, Run It, Color Me Impressed, Willpower, Mr. Whirly, Within Your Reach, Buck Hill, Lovelines, You Lose, Hayday, Treatment Bound

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    This album is a contradiction. On one hand there’s a talented band in there, but they seem like a band conflicted between their punk ethos and their melodic instincts, I am not really all that convinced by the punk material itself, but Paul Westerberg shows real ability as a composer when he is focused. There’s a devil may care feeling with much of this material along with informal chatter, and that chatter doesn’t always work. Aside from do-It-yourself sensibility, within segments of the punk scene there’s a ‘anti music’ instinct with some acts, and this band feels like they are trying to embrace that. Yet their love of The Beatles and acts like Badfinger betray that ethos. This is their second album for the independent label Twin/Tone and so the stakes aren’t very high, they can create music for it’s own sake without commercial pressure. They have aways to go.

    The opening number “Hootenanny” feels like a ragged pastiche of a blues number, a parody, but it is a little amateurish, I can’t really tell if this is intentional. The next track, “Run It” a more punk number is an improvement, but not by much. But the next track “Color Me Impressed” is the strongest number and the likely single, Paul reveals his real potential here. At least, the more ambient “Willpower” allows the bass and drums to drive it, while the guitars weave around, and Paul’s delay vocal is eerie. “Mr. Whirly” is mostly a revved-up nod to “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Oh, Darling!” with some original inserts. There’s a certain rock n roll shuffle from Westerberg on “Take Me Down To The Hospital” and outside leads from Bob Stinson that make it interesting, but John Lennon had already covered the screams on his “Cold Turkey” track over a decade before. Paul pretty much plays everything on “Within Your Reach”, a beat box, several flanged guitars and a simple synth part make this a fairly interesting piece, and reveals his song writing focus once again.

    The second half opens with the surf rock of “Buck Hill”, an instrumental that is pretty standard issue, some of this material feels like things you’d hear in a club, and there’s no shame in that. Bob Stinson’s guitar work on “Lovelines” is outside as Paul offers some off kilter spoken muses. While “You Lose” feels standard, there’s some adept and good guitar work. With “Heyday” Bob offers up some interesting guitar work. The closer and acoustic “Treatment Bound” feels like a Stone pastiche from 72’ Exiles, it’s ragged and falls apart, but it’s commendable and interesting. Tommy and Chris are a solid rhythm section.  

    The problem with the album is the sequencing: Certain songs like “Color Me Impressed, Within Your Reach,” and “Willpower” should have set the tone, as this undermines the overall impression at first listen with the running order. While the band has a way to go, their spirit feels refreshing as this decade is uncertain with where trends will go. My problem with the current punk aesthetic is that Punk isn’t really designed to last in its purist form, already, by the end of the 70s, The Clash were accused of ‘Selling out’, and the Sex Pistol’s imploded, this band is more accurately comparable to The Ramones than anyone else. If the band can follow their musical muses, they could really be something impressive. I await the next release.